Kinshi (金糸)
It's those of us who must start life at the very bottom that become ruthless when climbing to the top. We yearn for happiness but when it's right there in front of us, it's hard for us to see it. We begin to brush away the little joys in search for the larger joys only to die without know what true happiness was at all. Another Hungry Mouth to Feed Miserable would be the word that best described the living situation Kinshi was born into. Except, at the time, Kinshi was not her name at all. She had been giving the simple name of Furi, since that was the first thing her mother saw after giving birth; the long sleeves a rich woman's kimono. Furi was born in Oka no Kuni at the very outskirts of the capitol where the dredges of society lived. At that point, her parents were rather aged; her mother being about 38 years of age and her father about 45. At birth, she had a twin sister, Fusa. There were many children besides her and Fusa; about 11 (alive; three of her siblings died as infants by this time) altogether with oldest being 21 and one closer in age to the twins at about 4. There were three other sets of twins that accounted for the large number. The four eldest no longer lived in the household and in fact had families of their own, but it was hard for her parents to provide for the other six children. Her father was a failed farmer; each crop yielded little to no food and multiple times he had to take out loans that he failed to pay. Her mother was a seamstress; she would take the three youngest with her into the village where she worked in a shop, bringing in most of the money for the family. But, a good deal of the money was drunk away by her alcoholic father, who would return home late at night either singing or in the foulest of moods. Only Furi and Fusa were able to be kept safe since their mother would not let them out of her sight. Many times, the family went with out food and heat and at the age of three, Fusa died, being deemed the "Unlucky 13" since she had been plagued with maladies throughout her short life. Too young to understand what had happened, Furi searched for her twin for years, calling her name. Two more children would join Fusa in death eventually, the family's troubles becoming worse before they got better. The Budding Seamstress At the age of 8, Furi's mother began teaching her how to sew. At night, she would bring home some of her work so that Furi and her sisters, Ame, Aki, and Nezumi, could learn the trade. Not long after she began to learn, Nezumi died. Her mother began losing hope and her father sank deeper into his alcoholism, going as far as to beat the children who remained at home. Furi found solace in sewing and at the age of 10 became an apprentice in the same shop as her mother. She worked diligently, even staying late to make extra money (which she hid from her parents). Gradually, things seemed to be turning around for the family. Ito and Hana eventually left the nest, starting families of their own while Kyosuke and Shin were becoming successful farmers. Rima occasionally checked in on the family and Chiyako's husband was able to open a woodworking shop in town. Furi no longer starved and her money began to add up. She began to dream of opening her own clothing shop. But, tragedy struck the family. In his drunken fury, Furi's father murdered her mother and in revenge, the only three sons left conspired to murder their father. It was Ito who delivered the killing blow with an axe over the old man's head after Kyosuke and Shin brutally beat him. Ito was placed in prison for life while Kyosuke and Shin were locked up for 10 years and their lands confiscated. Kyosuke died in jail while Shin went insane. Rima took in Furi while Hana took Ame and Aki since the two were at a marriageable age at that point. Furi had only just turned 13 when this happened, the number once more traumatizing the girl. She threw herself into sewing, becoming the top apprentice at the shop. It was thought that she would become a simple seamstress like her mother and two sisters (Ame and Aki), but she proved the pessimists wrong. The owner of the shop took pity on the girl and offered to take her in so Rima could focus on her own family, to which she agreed to. The shop owner and his wife had no children of their own and decided that Furi would be the one to inherit their practice, sparking jealousy within her older sisters. Her skills only grew, much to the pleasure of her new family and displeasure of her old. The Spinner of Golden Thread Furi began bringing in large sums of money with her intricate designs and flawless needlework. She was at the point where all she had to do was glance at the cloth to know the material. She had a keen eye for style. Nobility began requesting Furi specifically for mending and creating new outfits for them and she took to the challenge. Her adoptive parents worried for the girl though; a 16 year old workaholic who lost their childhood by the age of 8. They tried to get her to socialize, but it was too late; Furi had seen what poverty could do and she refused to risk even the smallest bit of money. She worked late into the night and rose early to begin. She was quite the popular girl when it came to clothing. But, her fortunes would change with an odd request at the age of 18. A noble lady requested a robe made entirely of gold. Furi initially tried to explain to the woman that this would be impossible, but her reasons fell on deaf ears. The woman had heard rumors (started by her sisters to slight the girl) that Furi could weave gold. Giving Furi some gold, the girl found herself with a dilemma. At first, she thought that perhaps she could pass some color threads off as gold, but found that this would not work. An idea occurred to her while watching a smith at work. She asked that the man melt all of the gold and dip her threads into it. With the golden thread, she began to make the robe but found that there was not enough to make such a large robe. She substituted the rest with yellow thread. At first, the woman was pleased, but once she realized that a part of it was not gold but yellow, she became angry. It didn't help that it wasn't very comfortable. Furi was ridiculed and lost her court customers. But, she had succeeded in spinning a robe of gold in the eyes of ordinary citizens, earning her the nickname "Kinshi" (gold spinner). She embraced this name and decided to set out on her own, feeling the need to get off of the island. Her family consented and the eighteen year old left for the Land of Fire where she set up shop under the alias of Kinshi and began designing and creating new styles. The Chance Meeting To come. Personality Kinshi is in short, a workaholic. She fears poverty, but detests extravagance. Because of this, she believes in being careful with money and comes off as stingy to some. While she creates works of art in clothe form, she herself lives rather plainly, only spending enough to survive. She often forgets to eat when in the midst of serious projects and does not sleep much. When conducting business, she's extremely shrewd and comes off as rather cold. She does not like cutting corners so depending on what is asked for, she may raise the price. Success is the only thing she cares about and has a violent temper when dealing with lazy workers. Many an employee has been fired or hit for their slacking. Despite this, Kinshi seems to have a soft side for children, especially poor children. She is prone to give jobs to orphans with no experience. Whenever children come near her, she speaks to them kindly and occasionally gives them gifts of candy, ribbons, or origami. Her hands are always moving, used to the motion of work. Appearance Rather pretty in appearance, Kinshi has honey blonde hair that reaches half way down her back in straight locks. She usually wears her hair in a messy bun or ponytail, not wanting it to get in her way while she works. She's extremely slim and pale as well as short from years of malnutrition. She has light blue eyes that some may call icy due to her cold personality. Her fingers are long and narrow with dot like scars from pricking herself with needles while she worked. Fun Facts - As a child, Kinshi claimed to be able to see the dead spirit of Fusa and as a memento of her, carries a lock of her hair on her. - Kinshi has altogether 14 siblings and only the first four were given names based on the effort of their parents, the rest were named based on the first thing the parents saw (Rima, Kyosuke and Shin, Chiyako, Mushi (bug), Ito (thread), Hana (flower), Sora (sky) and Kumo (cloud), Ame (rain) and Aki (Autumn), Nezumi (rat), Yuki (snow), Fusa (tassel) and Furi (long sleeves)). - Mushi, Sora, and Kumo died before Kinshi was born, Fusa, Nezumi, and Yuki died after she was born. - Kinshi firmly believes in Darwinism. - Despite her cold demeanor, most children know that Kinshi's pockets are always filled with candy for them. - Kinshi dislikes laziness and is known to hit those who don't put effort into their work.